Summit Corporation plc announces that safety pharmacology data generated by its market-leading zebrafish technology platform was presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Safety Pharmacology Society held in Edinburgh between 19-21 September.

The zebrafish data presented at the conference included positive results from several studies that illustrated how the zebrafish can be used to assess the safety of potential drug candidates including the screening of known drugs in a range of organs that are conserved between zebrafish and humans, such as the heart, eye and gut.

Summit also highlighted additional, new aspects of the Company’s zebrafish technology platform, including an advanced automation facility that increases throughput of compound screening to produce faster analysis of efficacy and safety.

Steven Lee, CEO of Summit plc, commented: “Following a number of high-profile drug failures in recent years on safety grounds, the importance of safety pharmacology is now an integral part of the drug discovery process.

This conference represents the major international forum for discussing new technologies and methods to assess the safety of new potential drug candidates as part of the drive to reduce the high attrition rates within the industry.

“The results we have presented at this conference highlight the value that Summit’s world-leading zebrafish technology platform brings to this process, and this value is being recognised ever more by the wider pharmaceutical and life science industries.

To date, we have worked with seven of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in this area, providing increasing validation of our approach, and we look forward to engaging further with both them and the sector as a whole.”

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